CatH Post 86
In CatH Post 86, Clear and Lumo meet with Ambassador Jteff and Admiral Ltexi at the Jovian Embassy on the Cosmic Nullius. The Jupiterians raise the issue of ownership of The Hopeful, which they believe should belong to Ltexi and to Jupiter due to the ship's history with them. Clear was the only living person that could verify Ltexi's story, however Jteff learnt about the living daylights upon the ship and they could tell the truth just as well. Clear, however, refuses permission to board the ship and declares that any armed attempt to get aboard The Hopeful would be seen as an act of war against Mars and Earth by the other members oft he G8 since Clear is now an ambassador herself. Jteff must relent but Ltexi is outraged. When Clear leaves the ambassador's suite she is suddenly attacked by several orion slavers and her old enemies, Kaptin Kwanza and Sega. Lumo flees and Clear is beaten and eventually tased. Ambassador Jteff investigates the disturbance but after he refuses to accept the orion's bribes, he is murdered. Sega, however, decides it is not enough that Clear should be taken as a slave and proceeds to kill the orions he was working with. He is then attacked by Ltexi, who makes a sudden return, with a large energy cannon. To escape he uses his harness to travel into the Special Zone. Kwanza is stopped from killing Clear by security guards brought back to the embassy by Lumo. Clear wakes up in a hospital bed where her friends are with her as well as Lieutenant Randy, the ambassador for the Alliance. He has arranged a new bodyguard unit for her protection, a group named the ST Clan. Post Enemy Collaboration Clear has become something of a celebrity. Even those that didn't know her now know her popularised slogan; The World of Tomorrow. Under new forms such as 'Let's Build the World of Tomorrow' or 'The World of Tomorrow is Due', the expression has caught on across the Cosmic Nullius. Clear wishes she could have trademarked it and be paid royalties for all these ambassadors now banding it about. There have been many meetings since that first one as meetings are held throughout the entire day in various locations across the Cosmic Nullius. No further G8 meetings have been held as yet, however. Clear was almost forced to take the mantle of Ambassador for Mars else her role in the first meeting would have been suspect and may well have negated the entire affair. Her terms had been that it's largely an honorary title, however, and she'll never be asked to attend any meetings she didn't want to attend. This suits her just fine. Besides, it suits her other plans to gain this official rank. And so her friends have been annoying her for days by calling her Ambassador Clear. One friend, however, has been conspicuously absent and nobody wants to try to force themselves into her graces. Today, however, a summons to the Jupiterian embassy has arrived and Clear is on her way. Lumo is with her, slowing Clear down to a crawl as he shuffles along the causeway above the blue river. The light of the star glitters over the liquid's surface brightly and some fish, coloured in vivid hues like red or pure yellow, hop out and back in again merrily. A large boat sails down the river, its solar sail ever turning to face the sun, while a smaller rowing boat slips beneath the causeway and out of sight. Some people congratulate or thank her on the way. One person even asked for her autograph, much to her embarrassment and frustration. She chooses to be courteous and sign the book, however. When she gets a look at the book she realises it's dubbed "A Brief Study of Martian Physiology" and it's written by Alexis Thrain. Clear avoids snatching the book to see what the wretch has been writing about her, but she's sure enough about Thrain that the book probably only contains biological studies and nothing more. She makes a note to punch her anyway. And then demand royalties. She and Lumo finally reach the embassy and are permitted through by the two guards on duty. Clear has been surprised to find that security of these embassies is pretty lax, though she supposes most meetings have been fairly friendly thus far and no tempers have flared. Inside she's led to the ambassador's suite where Ambassador Jteff is laid down on a long sofa with red velvet cushions and gold-coated legs. The sofa has no back as it's designed to be laid upon, as per Jovian custom. When Clear enters the ambassador beckons her over. Clear sees that Ltexi is also in the room, reclining on her own sofa, head resting against her hand. She looks at Clear with a grimace as the salmitton approaches the circle of sofas. Ambassador Jteff: "Please lie down, Ambassador Clear and your friend may join us too, if you please." He indicates to two of the sofas opposite himself. Lumo climbs onto a sofa and lies down, placing his big, grey head upon the large cushion. Clear sits instead, resting her hands in her lap. Ambassador Jteff: "Suit yourself..." He says, a little irritated by Clear's action. He points a finger to the food on the circular stone table. Ambassador Jteff: "Help yourself. You know Jupiter is famous for its cinnamon? Only we can make the most secret ingredient to cinnamon products!" Lumo: "Isn't it... cinnamon?" Ambassador Jteff: "Nope! Cinnamon is like the weak strain of our cinnabore. Nothing as good as it. Please try some. The cinnabuns are especially good." Lumo: "I have a feeling we won't be staying for long." His big eyes swing from Jteff to Clear. Ambassador Jteff: "Very well!" He quickly takes a chug of rosé wine before speaking. Ambassador Jteff: "I'm sure you have an idea what this is about. We obviously have claim to your ship, The Hopeful. It belonged to our empire once and, specifically, it belonged to Admiral Ltexi here. It is ours. We wish for you to relieve yourself of duty." Clear: "No." Ambassador Jteff: "You do realise this is just a courtesy?" Clear: "Actually, I believe you owe me a favour don't you?" Ambassador Jteff shakes his head in amused disbelief. Ambassador Jteff: "You can't honestly expect me to honour that agreement? On your ship there's these... living daylights? The ghosts of our crew on your ship. That would be more than enough to remove any doubt that Ltexi is who she says she is." Clear narrows her eyes at him. She refuses to even look at Ltexi. Clear: "The answer is still no." Ambassador Jteff: "I was hoping--" Clear: "I wasn't finished." He stops, curious about her strong tone. Clear: "You are not permitted on my ship to make any kind of assessments for any reason. You require my permission to do that." He gives her a patronising smirk. Ambassador Jteff: "Come now, Clear... one woman versus however many soldiers I--" Clear: "Ambassador Clear..." He snaps his mouth into a thin line. Ltexi: "You can't--" Clear: "If you attempt to board my ship, that would be tantamount to an act of war. Considering the speech I gave the other day, if you boarded my ship with your soldiers and stole it from me it would look a lot like retaliation. Right now, nobody knows who Ltexi is, there's only her word for her identity so she has no claim until it's proven who she is." Ltexi leaps to her feet and points an aggressive finger at Clear, over the table. Ltexi: "First you take my planet and now you take my ship! You're as bad as any human!" Clear jumps to her feet, just as angrily. Clear: "First you want to burn my world and now you want to take my ship! It's you that's the human here!" Ltexi reaches out and Clear flinches to block her. Instead, however, the other woman grasps a bowl of olives and throws it across the room. It crashes into a tree and splatters olives everywhere. After a final glare at Clear, Ltexi storms from the room. Ambassador Jteff: "Well played, ambassador. Seems you're more politically minded than anyone ever gives you credit for..." Clear: "So, obviously, now that favour. You must absolve Ltexi's claim to my ship. Then I will allow a single researcher on board to observe the living daylights and check the Command Deck. You'll get all the proof you need for Ltexi's identity and the history of the attack, but I get to keep my ship." Ambassador Jteff: "I suppose there's no other choice. As I said, well played. I'll present an official statement to confirm that the republic and any of its members relinquish all claim to The Hopeful. We can frame it if you'd like?" He says sarcastically. Clear: "I think I'd rather like that. The frame should be silver though. And make sure the paper is nice and expensive quality." Jteff sighs. Ambassador Jteff: "This morning I thought I knew how this would all play out. Now I'm left speechless. I suppose you must despise me now?" Clear: "Absolutely." Ambassador Jteff: "Such a shame. I would have loved to be one of your husbands..." Clear blinks at that. Not only because of the supposed romantic interest but the fact he would be willing to share her with other husbands. Jupiterians. She looks down at Lumo and cocks her head to the door. He gets up and the two of them leave the room without so much as a goodbye. Clear half expects to find Ltexi out there waiting to fight her, but there's no sign. The salmitton and the grey make their way out of the embassy with Lumo offering his congratulations on a play well made. Once in the hall, however, she does find a figure standing in the exit. His big, bulky frame fills most of the doorway. Before he has even turned around to face her, Clear recognises the peculiar frame attached to his torso. Sega. With a sudden panic, she turns to run. But there she finds another, the Orion man from the lift the other day. He is joined by two other orions, one male and one female. Orion Man: "Hello again. Seems we have an extra grey for trade today. Not worth much considering he's so old. Still. Maybe there's a good organ donation scheme in these parts we can sell him to. Piece by piece." Lumo: "You're in the Jupiterian embassy! What are you thinking!?" Kaptin Kwanza: "Good point! Guards! Guards!" Clear turns to see her oldest and most hated enemy, the skeletal man Kaptin Kwanza. He stands there with a whole new pirate-like outfit, tipped by a flamboyant hat with a feather sticking out of it. Sega, Kwanza and orion slavers - all teamed up to get just her. Kaptin Kwanza: "Oh! Would you look at that! Nobody's coming to save you..." Orion Man: "Seems the Jupiterian guards didn't need paying much to turn a blind eye today. Looks like you have a lot of enemies, despite your sudden rise to fame..." She watches as Sega approaches from the door. He doesn't even speak, he just stares at her as though there is nothing else in the universe that matters to him. Clear can feel herself shaking with fear. She doesn't think she'll be making it out of this one with only Lumo to back her up. If anything he's more of a liability. She can run but he can't. The first attack comes from Kwanza. In his hand he holds what is obviously a kind of taser, a small black box with two prongs. He makes a jab but Clear snaps her torso back with her usual Martian agility. Before he has even reached the end of his thrust, she grabs his wrist and forces his own momentum round so that he almost caught himself with the taser. The two orion cronies lunge and grab her arms. She pulls, trying to free herself, but the two of them are stronger than her alone. Sega steps in front of her but before he can slam his fist into her face she jumps up off of the ground, using the two orions for aerial support, and plants both of her boots into his face. He staggers backwards but she pushes her body up further still from his skull, spinning backwards through the air, above the orions and down behind them, loosening their grip on her. In this new position she uses her left foot to kick the male off of her, releasing her right hand. The woman then tries to grab Clear by the hair, probably not wanting to damage her face lest buyers get upset, but the salmitton thumps the orion in the solar plexus. The woman gasps and wheezes as the air is sucked out of her and she's winded. Lumo has already run for it, smart fella, and has reached the door to the embassy. Clear makes after him but she's suddenly grabbed by the long plait trailing behind her. Sega's massive, meaty hand yanks on the tail and Clear screams with pain as her hair pulls from her scalp. She flies back and topples onto her rear, one hand held against her head. He pulls on her hair again, dragging her along the floor. She kicks and writhes as she's dragged along. Kaptin Kwanza: "Just hold the daft cow still and I'll give her a jolt!" He reaches down to blast her with the taser but she lashes out with her foot and kicks it out of his hand. It clatters off along the floor. Kaptin Kwanza: "Oh for God's sake. You know, you are the most annoying woman I've ever met! I'm usually not so vindictive as all this but honestly after all the trouble you put me through..." He kicks her in the ribs. Kaptin Kwanza: "I'd much rather be relaxin' on a tropical beach somewhere but instead here I am chasing round after you." He kicks her again. Kaptin Kwanza: "And to top it all off, I have no ship thanks your mates. You know I had to taxi here? Me! Taxi! Then again I did steal the taxi afterwards. The pilot never saw it coming, at all! Haha! Blew him out of the airlock, I did. Always a good one that." Sega hoists her up and throws her across the floor. She lands roughly on the stone floor with a whimper of pain. Orion Man: "Be careful with the merchandise! She'll not sell so well if you batter her around." Sega turns his angry glare on the orion who falters to a silence under the oppression of the man's robotic stare. Clear is already scrambling along the floor, almost reaching the ambassador's doors, when Sega catches her by the ankle and drags her back. She cries out for help again but she knows there's no help for her in this building. Until the ambassador's doors open up. Ambassador Jteff: "What in the name of Marduck is happening out here? Clear!?" Orion Man: "No worries, ambassador! We're just taking a problem off of your hands, my good man!" The orion saunters over to Jteff, walking straight by Clear as though this were casual business. Sega continues to drag her along the floor and she can feel the thin material of her onesie tearing at the back where her skin is scratched and bleeding. She kicks at his hand with her other foot but can't hit his thick hand hard enough. Orion Man: "We'll take this pest out of here and leave you be, ambassador. I'm sorry if we've disturbed you from your work, I'll be happy to compensate you!" The orion pulls put a monetary card, which could be scanned in an instant. The look of confusion and fear on Jteff's face prompts further attempt from the orion to placate. Orion Man: "Oh, I realise we might have made a bit of a mess of your lobby. How about I give you some extra money to get that cleaned up?" Kwana has his taser at the ready again but Sega drops her leg, finally, and snatches it off of him. Sega: "Give me that. I'll do it right." Kaptin Kwanza: "Oi! I'm the guy wanting vengeance here! You can't deny my satisfaction, fella!" Sega: "Vengeance is the only thing my honour demands." Clear rolls over and starts to slowly creep along the floor. She can see the blinding sunlight streaking through the wide open doors of the embassy. If only she could get outside, into that light, she feels she'll be safe. Sega raises the taser into the air and, with zero mercy, brings it down with such force that the two prongs dig into her skin. The electricty blasts into her body and she screams in the horrible pain its causes. Tears stream down her cheeks when the electrical jolt ends. Orion Man: "That should be enough, Sega. Don't--" He jolts her again. Her body convulses in response to being shocked again. She feels every muscle in her body harden and the searing heat ripping up her back. It ends and she falls limp. She's awake but unable to move. She almost wishes she weren't awake then there'd be no pain. Ambassador Jteff: "Alright. Enough of this. Where are the guards?" Orion Man: "Seriously? She's your hated enemy! What would you lose here?" Ambassador Jteff: "I'd loose my self respect." Orion Man: "Pesky thing a conscience can be." Clear, through dazed eyes, can see them just outside the ambassadorial suite. She can feel the warmth of the sunlight on the back of her head as it swims into the dark, foreboding room. She watches as the orion jabs something into Jteff's stomach. The Jupiterian looks surprised and slowly looks down to see the injury sustained. Nobody thinks they'll ever die. Nobody ever thinks they'll be killed. So they always look surprised. As he falls to his knees, he clutches at the jacket of the orion steadying himself. As if for the first time since they first met, Jteff and Clear see each other. He falls and sees her no longer. Clear can't even whimper or moan over his passing as she just lies there like lead. Orion Man: "Well, this got messier than I'd have wanted. Kwanza, you and my associates will take care of our samaritan. Sega, do you have the quarry?" Sega: "Never question me again, scum." The orion rolls his eyes and shrugs his shoulders as he crosses the room. Orion Man: "Such a stern face, Sega. You have what you wanted. The salmitton taken care of." Sega: "She still breathes..." Orion Man: "Trust me. What happens to her after today will be a fate worse than death, I'm sure. She'll make a fine, fine toy for someone. Probably several someones." Sega: "Will that satisfy my honour..." He speaks to himself, not the orion, as he looks down at Clear. She turns her eyes to glare up at him. She forces all of her defiance into that stare. Sega: "No..." Orion Man: "What?" Sega: "She has to die. The life of the salmitton for the life High Legatifex." Now she understands why he would hunt her down like this. He blames her for the death of Kimleigh. Orion Man: "That is not going to happen. She is worth way too m--Ack!" Sega whips around and slams his palm into the orion's face, spraying blood from his instantly broken nose. As Sega's fingers clench around the orion's temples, there's a sickening wet sound. Sega releases the skull and Clear sees a hole has been bored between the slaver's eyes. The slaver slumps down dead. The other two orions cry out and draw their blasters. Clear is, quietly, happy to see things begin to turn. Kaptin Kwanza: "Seriously, I don't care if she lives or dies. Either way is good for me." Sega's harness begins to vibrate and the blaster shots whizz through his incorporeal body. He runs across the room in this vibrating, insubstantial form. All shots, even dead on target, pass straight through him. When he reaches the orions, the harness slows and stops very quickly. He shoves the woman into the man, knocking them both aside. That is the moment he needs to seize the woman by the neck. She screams as the deadly device in the cyborg's hand pierces her skin and a moment later she falls down as dead as her employer. The other orion manages to hit Sega with a blast of his gun, the energy smacks Sega's black and purple armour and ripples across it as it disperses harmlessly. Another shot does the same. The orion doesn't have time to readjust his aim as Sega grabs his skull with both hands. He doesn't use the mechanism. He forces his thumbs, gruesomely, into the orion's eyesockets. The screaming echoes in Clear's ears. Kaptin Kwanza: "Alright then. Guess she dies. Good enough for me." Ltexi: "Not today she doesn't." Clear sees the ferocious blast of energy before she even sees Ltexi wielding the arm cannon. The blast of energy is a long, wide beam of green that once fired doesn't stop. It hits Sega's armour which begins to distribute the energy. But it keeps on coming, forcing him backwards with kinetic force and Clear is certain it must be heating up that armour no matter how protected against energy blasts it is. Kaptin Kwanza: "Damn." Kwanza drops on Clear. His bone-fingers wrap around her neck and lock in tight. Kaptin Kwanza: "Can't believe I'm really gonna do this. You've made me a real villain, you know that? I used to such a nice guy too." Clear tries to move her hands to defend herself but she's still limp from the taser shocks. As she chokes she stares up at him, trying to exude as much hatred as she can. It's all she's got left. Voice: "You're under arrest!" Two figures appear in the doorway and Kwanza is forced off of Clear, his bones scraping her skin as they're pried away. She draws deep gasps of breath and looks up to see two human guardsmen restraining Kwanza. She looks over to Ltexi. Sega's harness has started vibrating and a moment later he is gone - off into the special zone where he can travel through space-time without interacting in the corporeal world. Ltexi stops firing the cannon and sees that she's blown a gaping hole in the wall. Ltexi looks down at Jteff but it's Clear she runs to first. She tosses the cannon to one side and crouches down to check Clear is still going. Ltexi: "You going to live?" Clear wheezes in response. Ltexi gets up and gives Kwanza a thump while he's being held by the two guards. Though he moans from the beating, she moans too as her poor hand just met bone. Ltexi: "What in the name of Marduck is this guy?" Guardsman: "We have him cuffed. Whatever he is, he's going to jail." Ltexi goes back across the room to check on the body of Jteff while Clear just stares up at the ceiling. Two big bug eyes slowly slip into view. Lumo gives her a smile with his little grey mouth. Lumo: "Guess I was just in time." Pully: "Alright, that's it. I'm never leaving your side ever again." Clear is lying in a hospital. Everything is green, the walls, the floor, the ceiling, the beds, the uniforms. It's like the doctors are meant to be camouflaged as they scurry around and stealthily jab you with needles. Like ninja doctors. The medicinal smell is, however, strangely relaxing. Probably she has spent too much time in the medical bay on board ''The Hopeful tending to herself and others. One way or another she always finds her way back to a medical bed.'' Ltexi: "I hope you like threesomes then." Pully: "Are you kidding me? Considering how unlucky she is, any man she takes back would turn out to be after a piece of her arse. And not in the way she wants." Ltexi laughs but Clear groans. Clear: "You guys..." Lumo: "She's awake." Everyone, and more, is in the room this time. She woke up earlier to find Green and Ltexi in the room, who were just happy she was alive. This time everyone has come to check on her. She feels like a zoo animal. Clear: "I'm fine." Green: "Clear..." She sidles up to the side of the bed and hands over a bag. Green: "I brought you some strawberries." Clear: "Better hide them from the doctor, Green. They'll snatch them right off me." Green slips the bag into the bedside cupboard and closes the door, all too carefully. Rui-Rho is reading the monitor hooked up to Clear's vitals, as though they might suddenly go blank. Pully and Ltexi are at the bottom of the bed while Lumo is asleep in a chair, his big head rolled to one side. Pashna has been forbidden from mucking about in Clear's system by the doctors, which Clear is secretly thankful for. She doesn't like the idea of him probing around in her cells, knowing her far more intimately than she knows herself. If it looked more dire, however, she would have gladly accepted his help. For now, though, she needs medicine and a few days of bed rest. Oddly enough it's her scalp that hurts the most, where her hair has been pulled from the skin. At the door of the room are two guardsmen. She now recognises that they're from the Alliance, given away by their uniforms and the silly looking helmets. As well as the two guards there's an officer in the room and she remembers him as the ambassador. Lumo must have gone to the nearest embassy for help - that being the Alliance. The ambassador edges his way through the group so that he can speak with Clear. Lieutenant Randy: "I'm Lieutenant Randy of the Alliance. Glad to see my men were able to get to you in time, Ambassador Clear." Clear: "Thank them for me. I owe them my life." Lieutenant Randy: "I will. But you need to know that this Sega character is still out there. We have Kaptin Kwanza in custody, so he's not going anywhere for now. But Sega may try again. Hopefully the orions won't try anything again now that the word is out what they tried to do." Kara Pashna: "How can they be allowed to get away with this?" Lieutenant Randy: "They just denial all involvement. The orion that attacked you wasn't part of the diplomatic envoy so he's an independent entrepreneur, as they called him." Kara Pashna: "I don't think I like these orions..." Clear looks from Randy to Ltexi. Clear: "What about Jteff!? Is he...?" The sour looks on faces answers her question before Ltexi shakes her head. Clear hates herself. She had been so rude to him, she hadn't even said goodbye to him and, in the end, he proved he has deserved much more from her. Lieutenant Randy: "Don't get me wrong, this is looking very bad for the Slavemasters of Orion as a whole. Jupiterian ambassador dead and the attempted abduction of the Martian ambassador is going to be news for a long time and the orions are going to work very hard to clean up their image in that regard. I think they'll lay low and never trouble you again." Pully: "Unless there are more budding entrepreneurs out there..." Lieutenant Randy: "Perhaps. But that's why you've hired protection." Clear frowns. Clear: "I have?" The others look a little guilty. Pully: "Yeah, you did. I know the PIN for your Alliance account so..." Clear: "So it was you buying all that booze on my account?" Pully: "What? No! That was you!" Clear: "Now I can blame you." Pully: "I just did what's best for you." Clear: "Okay, what is this protection you're talking about? A big gun? That thing Ltexi had would be nice..." Ltexi: "They won't even let me have another go of that thing, never mind sell it to you. That was a weapon in the armoury I had to steal. Luckily I can still pull rank, heh." Lieutenant Randy: "You have hired the bodyguard services of a group. A friend of mine is one of them." Clear: "Bodyguards? Seriously?" Pully: "I'm only so good, Clear." Clear: "As if you're my bodyguard." Lieutenant Randy: "It's a group and they'll work shifts to watch over you. They have a rapid response vehicle, so if trouble comes about they'll call in the cavalry. You're paid up for the next month. Hopefully we'll manage to catch this Sega guy by then. All security forces on Cosmic Nullius are out to get the fella." Clear: "So now I need to be babysat?" Ltexi: "Don't worry. They won't watch you shagging. Only Pully will do that." Pully: "Oi." Clear: "You guys..." Pully: "Actually, I am a bit curious about--" Clear: "Don't even." Lieutenant Randy lifts the hat he has been holding and puts it onto his head. He straightens his uniform and nods at Clear. Lieutenant Randy: "I promise you're in good hands. The first guy to watch you is just outside. Like I said, a friend of mine so I know they're good. You're a good friend to the Alliance and I intend to do good by you." Clear: "Who are these people?" Lieutenant Randy stops at the door as he is about to leave; Lieutenant Randy: "The ST Clan." Category:Post